Real-Name Law

Korea has adoped a Real Name Law that requires individual prove their identify when conducting financial transactions and when posting on certain websites.

Banking:
The Real-name financial transaction system was implemented in Korea in the early 1990’s as a means of reducing corruption
Under the system, banks are required to verify the identity of an individual conducting any/all types of financial transactions by checking the person’s name, personal identification number and photo ID. For this reason, foreign nationals are required to show their passport or alien registration card each time they go to the bank.
The Real-name law also requires that bank accounts be opened in the name of one person only, which is why it is not possible to have both spouses’ names on a bank account.

Internet:
Korean law also requires that all websites with more than 100,000 visitors a day make their users register with their real names, confirmed by their ID number. Note that some sites are configured for Korean citizen ID numbers, and not for Alien Registration numbers.

Although not part of the Real-name law, Korean websites often require an individual's ID number for a number of different types of transactions - accessing information on some sites, making reservations, making e-market purchases, etc. The sites are generally configured for Korean ID numbers only - for example following the 6 digit birthdate the next number will be a 1 (male) or 2(female) for a Korean citizen, while it will be 5 (male) or 6 (female) for a foreign resident.

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